Amore Destinato
by Neko-meme
Summary: She believed love was a bunch of hormones that made people act like fools. He believed everyone had a soulmate somewhere. But they both believed in destiny. So how much trouble can one month in Verona cause?
1. Prologue

**x Prologue x**

"And you'll never believe it; he got down on one knee and proposed to me. Gosh, Amu, the whole thing was just so spontaneous!" gushed Utau as the we walked through the college campus.

"Uh-huh. Well that's good," I replied as I stuffed my book into my bag.

Utau stopped dead in her tracks and looked to me.

"Are you not happy for me?" she asked with an arched brow.

I continued walking. This was a usual conversation we would have on a regular basis.

"Utau, I am happy for you. Believe me, it's just that-

"You don't believe in romance, which you think is just a bunch of hormones being unleashed into the air having people act like a bunch of love struck fools."

"Exactly."

Utau ran up to catch up with me.

"Normally, I would question your sanity, but there's more!"

"Do tell."

"Well…Kukai wants to have something like an engagement party on Saturday. You're invited."

"Cool. What time does this whole 'engagement' thing start?"

Utau bit her lip nervously.

"Well…it's more like this. Since you're going to be my maid of honor on the actual wedding day, you kind of have to come a month early for the engagement party…you know to help me out. The same goes for the best man…he's coming in early too."

This time I stopped.

"Really Utau? You know-

"There's more."

I groaned but remained silent for the most part to listen.

"It's going to be in Italy," she said trying to add some enthusiasm.

"Utau, I have summer work, and a job. I can't just put everything on pause and just go to Italy."

"Please Amu, come on, it's my engagement party. And summer break is three months; the party will only take up a month."

I looked her straight in the eye trying to reason with her. I wasn't just going to stop everything and go to Italy. One month without pay, meant one month I couldn't pay the rent to my apartment. And the last thing I really needed or wanted as a matter of fact was to argue with my horrid land lady.

Just then, I felt my phone vibrate through my bag. Glad for the little distraction I fished for it through the chaotic mess which had nestled itself into my bag and pulled it out. 'Horoscope Update' flashed over the screen. Sighing, I clicked on it and a baby blue screen came up.

_Your Daily Libra Horoscope_

_Thursday June 1_

_Summer is here and everyone around you seems to want to be all play and no work. Your first reaction however is to continue working. And while normally this would be the best thing for the Libra as the moon is usually in power, this month, the planet Venus seems to be coming forth. And the goddess Aphrodite has special plans for you. So don't let opportunities pass you by. It may be a great chance to let a new flame ignite in your life._

By the time I had finished reading the unusually long horoscope, I was practically glaring at the screen. For a moment, I was tempted to just turn off my phone, toss it back into my bag, and reject Utau's offer. Simple. But, what if this was meant to happen? What if it was destiny? If it was, I wasn't about to fight it.

I looked up to meet Utau's waiting eyes.

"Fine," I sighed giving in.

Utau squealed and wrapped her arms around me.

"Thank you, thank you so much! Oh my gosh, I am so excited!"

While I wasn't a firm believer of romance, I did strongly believe in destiny.

* * *

Hi you guys (: So here's just a little sneak peek into my new story Amore Destinato which means Destined Love in Italian. Perfect right? Okay, so let me know what you guys think of this.

_Read-Love-Review_

_Neko-meme_


	2. I Think I Just Met The Devil Himself

_Chapter One – I Think I Just Met the Devil Himself_

* * *

"Come on Amu, can't you try to be a little more excited?" groaned Utau as I trudged behind her and her fiancé through the hallway of the building.

I glanced around the hallway, taking note of the features. It definitely was nothing like the $135 rent I paid for at the apartment complex back in New York. But it wasn't shabby either.

"I am excited," I managed in what came out as a monotone voice.

"You keep telling yourself that Hinamori," chuckled Kukai.

"Anyways, this'll be your room. Room 405," he added handing me the key.

"What room are you guys staying in?"

"We're right down the hall – room 411."

"What about-

"Sorry I'm late!"

Utau and I watched Kukai drop his things to the floor and run towards the stranger.

"Who's that?" I mumbled half annoyed at the fact that this guy, whoever he was, was late. And half annoyed that I couldn't immediately run into my room and take a nice, long, warm soak in the tub.

"That's the best man, Ikuto Tsukiyomi. I swear, if I hadn't met Kukai first, Ikuto would've been my fiancé."

"Utau!" I exclaimed though I was smiling.

"Do you even see how _hot _he is?"

I rolled my eyes and checked to see that Kukai and this Ikuto person were still animatedly talking. I slightly nudged her arm.

"I'm a bit tired, do you mind if I went to my room first?"

"You know what; I think I'll do that too. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure."

_xXx_

"Oh gosh, this feels so good," I sighed happily as I sunk into the warm water, my muscles relaxing slowly.

I could get used to this, I thought with content. Maybe one month in Italy wouldn't be so dreadful. After all, I wouldn't have to see my horrid landlady or my annoying co-workers from the bookstore for thirty beautiful days. I could avoid the kid from England, Todd, who was continuously trying to hit on me after I was switched to his chemistry class and quite clearly explained to him that his ridiculous idea on the molecular theory was incorrect.

I sunk down lower in the tub, so my neck was underwater as well. I was just beginning to relax completely when a knock came at the door. For a moment, I contemplated on just staying in the tub and letting the intruder take a hint and leave. When another knock came at the door, I cursed first, and then I groaned. I tied a pink towel around me and walked up to the door.

"Utau, I don't see what could be so important that you had to interrupt my bath," I said loudly as I opened the door.

I froze when I noticed that it wasn't Utau at the door, but that Ikuto person. His gaze traveled down before returning it back up quickly to meet my narrowed eyes.

"You may want to tighten your towel," he said simply.

Embarrassed, I flushed as I tightened the pink towel that I had wrapped around me in front of him. And it wasn't helping that I was completely entranced by his appearance. Dark azure hair with that matched his eyes. Only, they seemed darker like the sky at midnight and endless… as if they were an endless pool of mystery. When I snapped out of it, I noticed him smirking me at me and that only added onto the embarrassment and aggravation.

"Okay so what do you want?" I asked coolly as I tried to remain in control of the situation, even though I was still quite visibly blushing.

"Well, you practically escaped into your room when I was about to introduce myself to you. I'm Ikuto," he said holding out his hand.

"Amu Hinamori," I replied through gritted teeth while I shook his hand with the hand that wasn't holding the towel up.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later then."

Not answering him, I was about to close my door, when he suddenly wedged his foot between the wall and door.

"By the way, you have some really sexy legs," he added before finally leaving.

I stared blankly at my closed door, before grabbing a pillow and throwing it against the door.

"Pervert!" I screamed not caring whether anyone heard me or not.

_xXx_

Despite being interrupted by that perverted creep, the bath had relaxed me quite a bit from the long flight. Almost every knot in my back had practically been smoothed out. Though I had to admit I was still quite a bit sore. At the end of it all, I decided to grab the book I had been assigned to read and go out in the front yard of the complex to read. The area was absolutely enchanting – as if a spell had been cast on it and all you could do was step forward. There was a stone pond in the middle with a rocky waterfall that spilled an endless stream of water into the depths of the pond. Surrounding it was intricately carved benches that were surrounded by aging vines that wrapped around the legs and hung over a white canopy with roses spiraling down from it. The giant willow trees towered the garden, its wispy leaves brushing against the benches and anything else it could make contact with.

I peered down at the book I was currently holding in my hand – a classic Shakespeare play. It was all too fitting for the area I was currently in. Already enchanted, I took a seat on one of the benches under the willow tree and watched the play unfold right in front of my eyes.

Hours passed, but to me it felt as if I had only just arrived. The bright blue sky had been reduced to shades of orange, pink, red, and purple. The sun was only a fraction of what it had been earlier. A spell I thought, and smiled to myself. I closed the book, but I didn't get up to leave. Instead I leaned backed against the trunk of the tree and watched the sunset. My eyes slowly began to grow heavy and the view in front of me went from crisp to streaks of blur.

xXx

"Hey, wake up. You're going to catch a cold."

Frowning, I slowly opened my eyes to be greeted by the pitch black sky. As my vision continued to clear, a figure formed in front of me. And when the dark eyes met mine, I muffled a scream and leapt back nearly falling off the bench. The figure chuckled, and I frowned looking up to meet those irritating azure eyes.

"Go away pervert," I muttered crossing my arms over my chest.

"That's mean," he pouted but took a seat next to me anyways.

Groaning inwardly I scooted over so he wasn't so close to me.

"Utau and Kukai were worried – they didn't know where you had gone."

Worry ignited at the bottom of my stomach but it was soon smothered out.

"A-are they okay? I mean I-

"It's fine," he said chuckling again. "I saw you head out earlier, so I just passed on the information."

I frowned once more. It bothered me that he could see where I was going without my knowledge of it. He leaned back and looked at the stars. I watched him carefully so he wouldn't try anything too funny.

"How could you fall asleep under this beautiful view?"

"I was reading."

"A romance novel I bet."

I shrugged and held it up. A smirk played across his face.

"Romeo and Juliet huh? Do you like it?"

"I don't care for it if that's what you mean. Romeo is fickle – one moment he's head over heels for Rosaline and the next he swears he would die for Juliet. And Juliet…well she's just naïve."

Ikuto raised his brow.

"What?"

"You're probably the first girl I've heard say that. Most girls would probably swoon over the idea of a guy like Romeo."

"I don't actually care for romance either."

"Oh really? Why not?"

I grabbed a piece of hair and began twirling it around my finger as I thought of a way to easily explain to him what he thought he was feeling.

"Well I mean, what you think you feel is really what you're feeling. It's really your hormones swinging out of control."

"I'd have to disagree with that."

"Most people would," I agreed nodding my head. "But romance really doesn't exist."

"Sure it does."

The sliver of hair slipped out of my grasp. Sighing in frustration, I leaned back against the tree.

"I told you, what you think you feel is just your hormones. It's kind of like an animal instinct. Humans are born with the need to mate and reproduce so we keep our species alive – like pandas! I guess over the years people just started to call it romance or love."

He chuckled again yet I felt my temper beginning to rise.

"Why pandas?"

"They're cute," I argued.

"Whatever. But love does exist. Every single one of us has that one person who they're most compatible with – soul mates. Loving someone does not simply mean to reproduce. You come to care for that person and you want nothing more than to spend time with them."

"Hormones," I argued. "Didn't I just tell you this?"

"Yeah and I'm telling you that's bullshit."

I groaned in frustration and leapt off the bench glaring at him much to his amusement.

"You are so aggravating! Why can't you just accept the fact that love doesn't exist?"

He stood up as well, standing close to me and twirling the piece of hair I had been playing with earlier with his finger.

"Because it does exist."

Pushing myself out of his grasp, I shot him one last convincing glare before grabbing my book and storming out of the yard. Halfway up the stairs, my anger was turning into pity. What a poor person…he was so naïve that he believed a concept such as love truly existed. Still, it didn't erase the fact that he was irritating and a pervert.

He might as well just be the devil himself sent here to annoying the living shit out of me. I truly was beginning to doubt that the next thirty days would actually be relaxing.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hello you guys.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little chapter and I'm sorry for leaving you guys with just the prologue for a couple weeks. I was actually thinking in which direction I wanted this story to head. So I hope this makes amends for that. Hehe.

Thanks to the people who reviewed, it honestly does mean a lot. I haven't really written just plain fluff like what I plan to do for this story in a while, so it feels sort of strange not to involve guns or something o . o Haha… Anyways, thank you to:

**NellyLuna252**

**thexlittlexlisa**

**TinkToxiixix**

**suz2u0109**

**Xerra Phene**

**Xemi-ChIx**

**kisshu-ichigo**

**aznpride16xx**

Oh! I probably should've mentioned the ages in the last chapter. Wow, I'm so forgetful sometimes it can be quite scary. Okay~

Amu: 25

Utau: 25

Kukai: 28

Ikuto: 28

Yeah…I think that's it for right now.

_Read-Enjoy-Review_

_Neko-Meme_


	3. Caller ID

_Chapter Two – Caller ID_

* * *

It was our second day in Verona, and I was squared away at the large oak desk typing out the first draft of my essay instead of sightseeing like any other normal person who had never been to Italy before would do. As my fingers made contact with the keyboard, my mind often made a point to drift off and remember the incidents from yesterday. However when that occurred, I shook my head, reminded myself that he was nothing but a perverted devil sent down to make my life a living hell, and simply moved on.

The playing ring tone of my cell phone snapped me out of my thoughts. Sighing, I flipped my phone open and balanced it between my ear and shoulder as I continued to type down my draft.

"Hello?"

"Where do you think you are?" screeched the familiar voice. "Did you think you could just prance away from your obligations?"

Sighing, I looked up at the time. It was only 10:30 a.m. If I said anything that might be considered 'offensive' there was a slightly large possibility that I could receive an unwanted lecture. Then again we were in different time zones. For all I know, it could be night or perhaps the middle of the afternoon for New York at the moment. But, there was a chance that she knew all about the time difference and would likely use it against me.

"Look Edna," I started, referring to my aging landlady by her first name as she so commonly hated. "I didn't _prance_ away. I told you a week before I left that I was leaving for Italy."

"Don't talk back to me missy, especially in the morning."

From over the phone a cackle erupted.

"That's right, I know all about this time zone nonsense. How many times have I told you not to talk back to me in the morning hmm? Back in my day, young girls were to be seen _not _heard. And how many times did I tell you not to call me by my first name?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear, lowered the volume, and then slipped the device back in the crevice between my ear and shoulder.

"Yes, I'm sorry Edna. Now what can I help you with?"

"You failed to give me your rent money for this month!"

I sighed warily.

"I already gave it to you, Edna. Look, open your file cabinet on the left, second drawer down. Pull out my file and the money is all there - two hundred and seventy dollars to be exact."

The sound of opening cabinets and papers flying echoed through the speaker. For a moment I contemplated on just hanging up on her. I knew the money was there, she'd find out soon enough, so if I just pressed the red button I would not only save myself an ear load of lectures and she would save her breath. In the end, I kept the phone by my ear and her voice came back on shortly.

"You conniving little child! When did you get your grubby hands on my file cabinet?"

"I handed it to you," I muttered knowing it was pointless to defend myself.

She mumbled some incoherent nonsense from over the phone.

"I guess I may have forgotten."

My eyes widened. Did she really just give up? I scarily wasn't even glad. The fact that she had given up the argument in just seven minutes scared me immensely. In our arguments, I was the one who would be forced to give up. Either because she threatened to kick me out or call my damn parents or some other method of punishment that she, with much enjoyment, would come up with.

"Edna," I began in a worried tone. "Are you alright?"

"I'm eighty-six years old; I don't need your worry. Oh and Amu, when you get back, I'll deal with your foolishness myself. So be careful, would you?"

I was greeted with a small click and then the dial tone. Smiling to myself, I placed the phone down and stared at the glowing screen. The old bat drove me insane, I thought to myself, but she was more of a mother to me than my own mother. My heart clenched and my eyes went dark at this realization.

She hadn't even called me, even after I had left her a message on her voicemail telling her I was heading to Italy.

Maybe she didn't get it…

I shook my head. I was no longer going to make excuses for her actions. I'd done that before in the past and was only welcomed with open arms by disappointment. Frowning, I erased all thoughts of the woman who had given life to me and resumed typing my draft.

_xXx_

With my arms folded over my chest, I watched Utau inspect the table cloths in front of her.

"Amu, why won't you help me decide?" she growled narrowing her violet eyes at me.

"I tried, but then you barked at me when I told you the periwinkle was better than the plum."

"Oh. Well, what about these two?" she asked gesturing to the pale pink fabric and a deeper shade of the plum colored fabric she had shown me earlier.

Frowning, I took a step closer to the table and gazed at each color carefully.

"To be honest, I think the pale pink is more appropriate but that's just m-

"AMU!" she shouted attracting the attention of several shoppers. "I just asked you to help me! Why can't you even do something as simple as that?"

I threw a desperate look to Kukai who had been goofing around with Ikuto. Sighing, he nodded his head and placed his hand on Utau's shoulder.

"Honey, what about the blue one?"

"It's too depressing," she muttered placing the periwinkle next to the plum again.

"Why not just choose the darker purple instead?" suggested Ikuto.

"It's plum," she corrected.

"Whatever, why not just choose plum?"

"Because then the venue we choose will look too dark."

I studied the tablecloths she had lined side by side again. Then the idea came to me.

"Utau, why not get the periwinkle and the plum and layer them? That way you can buy the color you want but keep it balanced with the contrast of the lighter shade."

Kukai and Ikuto immediately gave me a high-five, and Utau hugged me. From there, she ran up to the man who _had _been assisting us earlier. Utau had practically beaten the man down after he suggested that white was a more practical and elegant choice for an engagement party. The three of us waited outside while she ordered. When she finally did come out, she had a bright smile on her face.

"Let's go for ice cream, okay?"

Not wanting to ruin her mood, I didn't bother to mention that it was called 'gelato' here. It didn't take too long to find a vendor. I was busy pulling my wallet out while Kukai and Utau ordered. They had stubbornly insisted to pay for mine, but I was way more stubborn that the two of them combined.

"What do you want? I'll order for you."

Looking up, I was greeted by the devil's azure eyes.

"I can order myself."

"She was probably just going to order chocolate anyways," called out Utau.

I slowly snapped my neck around and gave Utau the most convincing death glare I could come up with. But she ignored me and resumed sharing her gelato with Kukai. When I turned back around, he was holding out a chocolate gelato with a smirk on his face. Frowning, I grabbed the cone.

"Do you expect me to thank you?" I asked.

He shrugged in return.

"You don't have to."

Grumbling, I walked over to a different bench and sat down. He plopped down next to me. Refusing to acknowledge his presence, I remained silent and slowly licked my gelato.

"Where are you from?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Why do you care?"

"I thought since we were going to see each other everyday for a month, we might as well get to know each other. Plus the fact that you hate me."

"I don't hate you…I just dislike you immensely."

"So you won't answer?"

"I don't see a need to. After a month, we'll just go our separate ways until the day Utau and Kukai decide to get married. Then we'll just go our separate way again. And it's better for you if you don't know anything about me."

He leaned in closer.

"I know your name – Amu Hinamori. I know you hate love-

"I don't _believe _in love," I corrected.

"Same thing. I also happen to know that you hate when people compliment your legs. And you like chocolate."

"I was in a towel!" I screeched.

"Which did happen to be pink."

Sighing, I took an enormous bite out of my frozen treat.

"New York," I answered bluntly. "I'm from New York."

"I'm from Los Angeles."

For the first time since talking to him, I smiled.

"Wonderful, we're on completely opposite sides on the map."

"How old are you?" he asked with a frown.

"Twenty-five."

"Twenty-eight."

"What's your sign?"

"Libra."

"Sagittarius," he grumbled.

"This is pointless," I muttered getting up to throw my cone away.

"You threw your cone away?"

"Yeah…I don't like eating the cone. It's disgusting."

"Really, I happen to like it."

I was already walking away by the time he finished his cone and jumped up to catch up to me.

"So tell me why you think this is pointless."

Stopping completely, I gripped my bag and looked up to face him. He was tall, I noted with discomfort. Much taller than my petite 5'4 frame.

"I don't know what game you're trying to play here, but it's obvious that we have nothing in common – if that's what you were searching for. So why don't I just save both of ourselves some time. I'm not interested in becoming friends."

Smirking, he bent down a little so I didn't have to look and cupped my chin with his fingers. I shot him a murderous look but he ignored it.

"That a shame, because I'm interested in becoming friends."

And with that he strode away, leaving me on the cobble stone path cursing behind him.

_xXx_

I dropped onto my bed and hugged a pillow. After coming home, I'd worked on my draft all day and managed to finish it. Shifting slightly, I looked at the time – 11:06 p.m. I pulled my phone out from under my pillow and with much surprise noticed I had two unread messages and a horoscope update. I pressed on the horoscope button and the familiar blue screen popped up.

_Daily Libra Horoscope_

_Thursday June 8_

_You are trying to avoid what you potentially know will happen by working yourself down to the core. Relax and let the cards do what they are destined to do._

I groaned. The last thing I needed to hear today, let alone from a computer, was about destiny. Rolling over so I was on my stomach, I opened my first message.

_From: Todd_

_To: Amu_

_Hey Amu…I heard you're in Italy. That's pretty far from New York. Well, I hope you're having fun. Can't wait to see you!_

_-Todd_

Staring blankly at the message, I decided to delete it. He obviously didn't get the message that I had no intention of becoming friends. For a moment, I was oddly reminded of Ikuto, but I shrugged it off. I clicked on the last message.

_From: Unknown Number_

_To: Amu Hinamori_

_Goodnight (;_

_-Ikuto_

With wide eyes, I glared at the phone as if it was playing a trick on me. How the hell did he get my number?

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hi, you guys! Here's another update just for you (: At first, I was having some trouble finding where I wanted to go with this, but now the chapters are just rolling out. And thank you guys so much for the support. I honestly didn't expect to have 15 reviews and 56 favorites in just two chapters. I really do love you guys (:

**Enough of my rambling…Thank You TO:**

**suz2u0109**

**Sam2413**

**kisshu-ichigo**

**aznpride16xx**

**Xerra Phene**

**XeMi-ChIx**

**NellyLuna252**

_Hehehehe :D_

_Read~Enjoy~Review_

_Neko-Meme_


	4. In The Text

_Chapter Three –_ _In The Text_

* * *

I woke up with an audible groan but kept it muffled with the thin sheet that had tangled itself in a messy heap on my waist as the cursed sunlight invaded the precious darkness I had been in for eight plus hours. I pulled the sheet over my head; it was too early to wake up. Just when I came to fall back asleep, a few birds began to chirp their usual tune. Cursing, I rolled out of bed only to fall flat onto my face instead of my feet.

Groaning and then cursing some more, I pulled myself up and trudged to the bathroom. Stripping out of my clothes and turning on the shower, I stepped under the water feeling the first burst of cold water wake me up.

I stepped out of the bathroom with a content sigh. A hot shower was probably the best invention man could create. Putting on a navy t-shirt, a pair of faded jeans, and placing a small white towel around my neck, I opened the door only to stumble backwards when a pair of angry golden eyes glared me down. Recovering immediately, I placed one hand on the doorway and leaned against the door frame smirking. She immediately thrust her phone towards me.

"Good morning to you too Amu."

"What. Is. This?" she growled through clenched teeth.

Leaning forward slightly, my eyes quickly surveyed the message I had sent her last night.

"That's a text."

"I know what it is! Who the hell gave you my number?"

Tilting my head slightly, I motioned towards the room at the end of the hallway. She gave me one last final glare before storming down to the room and mercilessly pounding on the happy couple's door. Not caring to stay for the unpleasant scene, I opted for breakfast instead.

**Amu POV**

The nerve of them all!

Utau giving him my phone number and Ikuto for texting me after I had specifically told him the day before that I clearly had no intentions of becoming friends with a perverted devil such as himself. I flopped onto my bed and hugged the pillow across my chest. Was I being too unreasonable? I mean all he did was give me a text saying goodnight. Utau and I did that all the time. But, he was a pervert. And a devil on top of all of that. Yet-

"Ugh!" I groaned slamming my face into the soft pillow.

This made absolutely no sense. Why was I getting so over worked on such a trifle situation? It's not like the guy freaking saw me in the shower. Getting up quickly, I got dressed and quickly went downstairs. Just as I had assumed, I found him sitting alone at one of the empty breakfast tables. Taking in a deep breath, I walked up towards him.

"Are you here to yell at me?" he asked calmly without turning around to meet my guilty gaze.

"No."

"Oh really?"

"I-I want to apologize! I…I'm sorry!"

He turned around now, his brows raised in amusement.

"What did you say? It's so hard to hear with all the noise."

My jaw nearly dropped and my eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. Was he serious right now? How could he not have heard me? There was _no one _in this hall other than us and the lady who was currently placing plates and silverware on the tables.

"You heard me," I muttered through a _forced _pleasant smile.

He smirked now and I could feel my temper inching up slowly.

"If I had heard you, why would I ask you to repeat yourself?"

"Because you're my personal devil!" I shouted.

Feigning a wounded heart, he placed his palm on his chest and put on a hurt expression.

"I'm hurt."

"Like hell you are," I muttered trying to remain indifferent.

Instead, I ended up smiling. When I looked up, he was smiling too.

"What?" I asked, annoyed once more.

"Nothing, it's just that I've never seen you smile."

Scoffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned around.

"I always smile."

"Yeah, but not when I'm around."

Shrugging lightly, I began to walk away when he quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him.

"Let go."

"What are you doing today?"

Sighing, I looked up to meet his dark eyes.

"Utau and Kukai have nothing planned for today, so I thought I would just study."

I was hoping he'd let me go when I said this and understand I had no intentions of going out with him today. Instead, he only grinned.

"Tsk, tsk. Wrong answer Amu. How about we go exploring today?"

"What makes you think I want to go out with you at all?"

He let go of my wrist now, and stepped back.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not forcing you to go. I just thought you may want to have a change of scenery."

I paused.

"Y-you're giving me a choice?"

At this he frowned, but I wasn't looking at him anymore. My hands were clenched into fists by my side.

"Fine," I whispered before walking away.

When I finally got back into my room, I closed the door behind me and slumped down against the door.

I'm so stupid!

'_Y-you're giving me a choice?'_

Groaning, I placed my head on my knee. I would never be able to forget those pieces of my past no matter how hard I tried to push them away. It was bad enough I had to go through the trauma, but did I really need to remember?

Not feeling sleepy at all but needing something like an escape route, I trudged over towards my bed and fell asleep.

_xXx_

My escape from the world was cut short when knocking against the door increased in volume. Sighing, I tumbled out of bed and opened the door to see the devil himself gracing my presence.

"What do you want? Didn't I already tell you I was going to out with you today like half and hour ago?"

Chuckling, he leaned against the door frame and shot me an amused look.

"Half an hour? You must've been asleep I assume, it's been six hours."

My eyes widened as I slowly turned around to check the clock on the wall. It was 2:36 p.m. My horrified gaze met his amused one.

"So do you still want to go out?"

"I-I have to get ready…um…make yourself at home," I muttered turning around and heading towards my bathroom while he took a seat on the couch.

_xXx_

When I finished changing, I opened the door and found him sitting on the couch with pout on his face. Raising my brow, I walked over towards him. He looked up at me immediately.

"Your place is boring."

"I'm sorry. What would you like me to get so I could make your _next_ visit _more_ enjoyable?" I muttered with sarcasm clearly dripping from my voice.

A smirk immediately played on his face which caused me to frown considerably.

"You should get those magazines where the women are wearing those cat ears and _really _exposing maid outfits."

I was sure that if I had anything in my hands, they would've dropped to the floor. Instead, my eyes widened and my cheeks flushed considerably.

"P-pervert!" I shouted as I made my way to the door.

Following me from behind, he shrugged and reached in front of me to open the door.

"You're too easy to tease," he declared before we left the hotel.

_xXx_

"Where are we going?"

"Calm down Amu, I'm checking the map."

Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest when I saw something that caught my attention. Without even thinking, I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the large monument. It was a statue of Shakespeare holding a quill in his hands.

"You must like Shakespeare."

"Of course! Have you even read his work?"

"Sure, when I was in school."

I didn't completely hear him finish his sentence as I wandered off to another monument. And this time, it was of the star-crossed lovers themselves. I gazed at the statue amazed at the detail and work that had gone into it. Just as I came to take a picture, I heard something that slightly interested me and irked me at the same time.

"Can you believe this Romeo? I mean first he found Rosaline and then he found Juliet."

The boy's friend looked to him in agreement.

"I sure wish I lived in their time period. There must've been some hot girls. I mean, I can't believe he got a girl like Juliet."

"It was destiny," I said to them clearly. "Destiny brought them together."

The boys gave me look that made it seem I was silly for even suggesting it.

"Hah, destiny. Yeah right, it was pure luck he found two girls that hot," they scoffed before walking away.

I gave their backs pointed looks before turning away and snapping a picture.

"A girl who doesn't believe in romance but believes in destiny. That's pretty weird."

After tossing him the same pointed look I had given to the boys earlier, I snapped one more picture before turning to look at him expectantly.

"So where are we going now?"

"Don't know. Maybe we could just wander around aimlessly."

Sighing, I crossed my arms in front of me and began walking.

_xXx_

There weren't very many places we could reach by foot – most of them seemed to be various statues or little cafés that dotted the streets. And seeing how neither the devil nor I remembered to bring much money, our only choice of transportation was the metro.

I handed the lady my ticket and approached the train like machine. What few seats were there were taken up by the handicap and old. I grabbed on to the strap that was hanging from the ceiling of the metro. Just then, a ton of people bombarded the already cramped space of the metro and I was sandwiched between people I hardly knew.

The doors shut and the train moved so sudden at such a fast pace, my grip from the handle slipped and I flew backwards into someone's chest. I whirled around rapidly ready to apologize when those familiar irritating azure eyes met mine. Frowning, I placed my hand on his chest to push myself backward, but he placed an arm around my back and held me in close.

My temper was overshadowed by the feeling of embarrassment when an elderly lady smiled at us knowingly. I was sure my cheeks had turned a bright shade of red. Before I could even explain the situation to her, the metro came to a screeching stop and she hobbled out.

I pulled myself out of his grasp and ran off the metro – he caught up with me easily.

"Amu! Where are you going? The exit is the other way."

Exhaling deeply, I turned around and stormed right past him. His amused chuckle pissed me off even more.

"Why are you so angry?"

Ignoring him, I started up the stairs that led back up to the 'world'. Just as I got on the last step, he grabbed my wrist – preventing me from continuing my path upward.

"Is it because I held you close in the metro?"

When I refused to answer, he laughed.

"You have a really interesting reaction – your face really flushes red when you're embarrassed."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled my wrist out of his perverted grasp and climbed up. I was particularly in the mood to do any real exploring, so I opted for the lake up ahead. There was a winding path that led down to the lake and a cool breeze that lightly brushed against my bare legs. Strangely, it was pretty secluded for a lake in the heat of the summer.

On the way there, I noticed a vendor selling loafs of fresh bread. I handed him some money and picked up a loaf before taking a seat on a bench that gave me a wide view of the sparkling lake. I sighed, feeling melancholy. It was at times like these I wished I had been born as a lake – not a human. It seemed so easy. All your worries disappeared once the tide crashed into the large, overwhelming boulders.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I watched the tide continuously crash into the stones. As a second tide began to form, the devil walked over and took a seat next to me.

"Took you long enough."

"Oh? Were you waiting for me?"

"Not in particular."

The silence between was quenched by a family of ducks swimming to shore. Their webbed feet made soft noises as it made contact with the sandy dirt. Taking the loaf of bread out of its paper, I tore off a piece and threw it to them. They voice their gratitude with happy quacks.

I silently had a large portion to the devil and the two of us fed the mommy duck and her little ducklings till we ran out of bread.

"So you believe in destiny?"

Sighing deeply, I turned to look at him.

"Is it wrong to?"

"No. I do too."

"Believe in destiny?"

"Yeah."

_xXx_

Much to my annoyance, the devil insisted on walking me to my door even after I argued with him the whole time relentlessly. I stopped in front of my door and whirled around to face him amused smirk.

"Okay, you can go now."

"Aww, you're so mean Amu. No thank you?"

"I never asked you to escort me."

I slipped the key into its hole and opened the door. I turned around again to see him still watching me expectantly.

"Thank you," I mumbled looking straight down at the floor.

"No problem. Goodnight Amu."

"…Goodnight…devil."

Stifling a chuckle, he walked to him room and opened the door.

"You never did ask about this morning devil."

"It's not in my place to ask. If you wanted to tell me, you would've."

"I see."

Closing my door behind, I leaned back feeling a faint smile spread on my lips.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hello (:

Sorry for my long-ish absence. I've just been writing this chapter over and over again. And then going over it like a hundred times. And let me tell you, that I am still not pleased with this chapter turned out. I don't know; I hope you guys like it though.

Hehe, did you guys notice that Amu never calls Ikuto by his name?

Anyways, thanks to my lovely reviewers.

**xtoxic rainx**

**Angelxotic**

**suz2u00109**

**kisshu-ichigo**

**Xerra Phene**

**Ai Seikatsu**

**thexlittlexlisa**

**Sam2413**

**marissa-chihero67**

**XeMi-ChIx**

**Cut3Neko**

_Read~Enjoy~Review_

_Neko-Meme_


	5. Libra

_Chapter Four- Libra_

* * *

"Why can't I just spend some quality time with my best friend?"

"Because your best friend is getting engaged."

I blew the few short strands of hair that had slipped out of the bun on my head out of my face while Utau continued to inspect the plates on the shelf.

"Plus," she added as an afterthought. "Why don't you go hang out with Ikuto?"

I sent her a pointed look in her direction.

"He's a devil."

"No, he's harmless," she corrected with a frown. "Now go away. You're messing up my concentration."

As I was walking away, I heard her snap at Kukai for something he did or didn't do. Sighing, I walked around the small shop aimlessly until I became intrigued by a shelf of strawberry related merchandise; I strode over towards the aisle and picked up a small mug shaped as a strawberry,

"She's right, I'm completely harmless."

Caught in surprise, I jumped backwards only to lose control of the mug. The intruder behind me caught the item in one swift movement and handed it back to me with an annoying smirk.

"Here."

Frowning, I snatched the precious thing out of his hands and placed it back on the shelf.

"Definitely not harmless," I whispered to under my breath before turning around to face him.

I crossed my arms in front of me and raised a brow.

"You eavesdropped on our conversation?"

"I wouldn't call it eavesdropping necessarily. More like Kukai and me were in the aisle in front of yours and we _overheard _your conversation. Your very loud conversation."

"Basically eavesdropping," I muttered.

Silence loomed between us, but I was thankfully saved by the chiming ringtone of my phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the baby blue screen.

"You have a horoscope app?" he asked as though this was a joke.

Shooting him a dangerous glare, I opened up the screen and read my 'destiny' for today.

_Your Daily Libra Horoscope_

_Saturday June 10_

_This is an excellent day to tell people exactly how you feel, Libra. Your emotions are more stable than usual, so open up and let your heart speak. What you learn today will be extremely valuable for the future, so pay attention. Keep an eye on what is real, but feel free to let your heart explore all possibilities. Follow your emotions and trust your instincts. You stand to gain quite a bit._

"Oh? So how do you feel about me?" asked Ikuto obviously amused by the whole thing.

"I think you're a perverted devil."

"That's it?"

"Yep," I mumbled picking up a strawberry capped pen.

I felt him creep up closer to me, but not so close that I could feel his breath on me. Raising a brow, I turned around to see him smirking at me.

"What?" I asked exasperated by this whole situation already.

"You say I'm perverted."

"Because you commented on my legs while I was wearing a towel. And _only _a towel."

"And yet you wear tight fitting shorts."

Frowning, I look down at my outfit. I hadn't decided to wear anything over the top – just a mint collared and sleeveless blouse along with a pair of floral shorts.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're such a pervert."

"Amu, if I was a _real _pervert, then I'd tell you that you're flat chested," he replied seriously.

Giving him a good glare, I spun around on my heels and stormed away.

_xXx_

I was happily content when we reached the end of our shopping trip and returned back to the apartment complex. It wasn't a lie when I said that I was far more comfortable buried in my books wearing an old sweater and a pair of sweat pants rather than being out shopping for an event that I didn't believe in with a devil who I was beginning to feel had a leg fetish.

Curling up on my bed with a book at hand, I began my reading until my eyes began to droop and I fell asleep.

x

"Mmmm," I mumbled groggily while I moved my hand around aimlessly to stop the vibrating.

Satisfied that the buzzing had ceased, I curled up on my side and snuggled against my pillow only to have my slumber disrupted by the buzzing again. Irritated, my eyes snapped open, searching for the source of the sound. My gaze stopped on my flashing cellphone next to me. I pressed the green button and placed it on my ear.

"What?" I snapped.

"Come outside."

At the sound of his annoying voice, I clicked on the red button and the tossed the device in front of me. I was just beginning to slip back into my slumber when my phone vibrated once more. I grabbed it again and stared at the screen.

_You have 1 message!_

Contemplating on my decision, I shrugged and clicked on the screen.

_From: Ikuto Tsukiyomi_

_To: Amu Hinamori_

_Come outside. It's important._

I frowned.

I didn't want to go outside at night to meet up with him even if it was an emergency. Regardless of that, what if it really was an emergency? I mean…my name does start with an 'A'. I could be at the top of his contacts for all I know and I could've been a last resort to call.

Unsure on what to do, I rolled off my bed and raced out the door. People stared at me strangely as I ran down the steps of the stairs as if my life depended on it. One thing and one thing only raced through my mind countless times – what if he really was in trouble?

With that big mouth of his, it was only about time he got himself neck deep in a big mess.

I found myself panting heavily when I reached him. He was sitting on one of the benches with a telescope in front of him. He turned around and smiled at me.

"Good, you made it."

"Where's the danger?"

"What danger?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You mean you're not in trouble?"

"Of course not."

"I see," I muttered simply as I turned around on my heel and began walking away.

"Hold up Amu!" he exclaimed making a grab for my arm.

He pulled me down with enough force so that I was sitting down on the stone bench beside him. I eyed the telescope with faint interest.

"You're a Libra."

Frowning, I turned to face him.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Look at the sky."

I tilted my head back and looked at the sky, seeing nothing out of the ordinary like what the tone of his voice suggested. His quiet laughing had me looking at him with a raised brow.

"What?"

"I meant through the telescope."

"You should've said that in the beginning," I grumbled while pulling the telescope towards me.

The devil adjusted it a little bit, before motioning for me to look through it. I looked through the lens to see a bunch of stars and then four or six bright stars in an almost box shape.

"Did you find it?"

"Find what? There's just a bunch of stars as usual and then a box."

When he said nothing, I pulled my focus away from the telescope to see him silently laughing to himself once more.

"Why are you laughing now?"

"That's not a box, it's Libra."

I immediately look through the lens again, but I only saw the box I had mentioned before.

"There's four really bright stars and a couple tinier ones in between right?" he explained while I searched the sky through the magnified lens.

"Y-yeah, but I still don't see it. I though the Libra was a scale."

Sighing, he pulled out a folded piece of paper out of his pocket along with a pen that had been lying beside him on the bench. He began to draw the stars and then connected them with lines. It kind of looked like an unfinished drawing of a house in my opinion – only slightly more crooked.

"The brightest stars that you saw are called Alpha Librae also known as the Southern Claw, Beta Librae – Northern Claw, Gamma Librae – Scorpion Claw, and Sigma Librae. They make up the brightest points of the Libra. The other stars are called Upsilon Librae and Tau Librae."

I studied the picture once more before turning my attention back to the sky. With the picture in focus, I could now see the 'scale' in which Libra represented.

When I faced him, I saw him labeling the stars with all the names he had given me earlier.

"How do you know so much about stars?"

"Well, at some point in college, I wanted to be an astronaut. As a kid I had always been interested in the sky, so I though why not and registered for a semester."

"And you're parents let you?"

"They really didn't mind as long I did something that earned me enough money to support myself and be successful. Though, it was harder to convince my dad than my mom – he wanted me to be a doctor."

So his parents didn't mind what he was I mused to myself.

"What about you?" he asked watching me with a curious gaze.

Shrugging, I got up, "It's nothing that I like really."

"Then why take it?"

Because I have to.

"Who knows," I answered turning around to walk away.

"Amu, where are you going?"

"I'm tired."

Before I actually left, I turned around once more.

"You're really lucky."

He frowned at me but I was already gone.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hello all my lovely readers!

Your also lovely but lazy author is back. But I honestly am sorry for the really late upload; I was having some difficultly with my laptop and Microsoft Word. Plus I was on vacation for a few days. But other than that, I am back and I promise that I'll try to update faster. I have a schedule to uphold :3

Okay, so I originally intended to end this chapter with Amu falling asleep through some story Ikuto was telling and then he would carry her back into her room…or his room. I don't know. But I changed my mind, as you can probably already tell, because Amu would never let herself fall asleep in front of a perverted devil like Ikuto. So yes…sorry if anyone wanted something like that to happen.

**Thank you to my LOVELY reviewers:**

**Nu-tella-Chi**

**NellyLuna252**

**Xerra Phene**

**marissa-chihero67**

**Arriene**

**XeMi-ChIx**

**Sam2413**

**Ai Sekatsu**

_Read~Love~Review_

_Neko-Meme_


	6. Smile

_Chapter Five- Smile_

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_I slid the piece of paper on her desk, knowing the cold and bitterness would come next. Never any warmth – no too much warmth would spoil a child. A child needed a lashing or two at times and a strict principle to be guided along with._

"_A scholarship. Well, I hope you weren't expecting any congratulatory praise, because this is something that was expected from you the minute you entered school."_

"_Yes ma'am."_

_Without sparing the piece of paper another glance, she pushed it aside and stared at me with cold eyes._

"_You know what is well expected of you, correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Good. You must remember that you are not like the other kids. I will not stand any disobedience from you, nor will I accept any foolishness while you are away. Do I make myself clear?"_

"_Yes ma'am."_

"_Furthermore, I will not allow you to share a room with some under privileged kid who does as they please. Children like that will spoil your mind. You will get an apartment, close to your college, and live alone. Yes, solitude will strengthen the mind and soul."_

"_What about here?"_

_I usually never dared to ask questions, and so my unusual response to her order slightly caught her off-guard – only slightly, because she responded with a cold laugh. _

"_You are not to step foot into this house until you have completed your studies. Do I make myself clear to you?"_

"…_yes."_

"_Good, now leave my study."_

"_Yes Mother."_

**_End of Flashback_**

"Yo Hinamori. Hi-na-mo-ri. Amu…hey?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked to Kukai who was clearly at crossroads between being worried and amused. He handed me a napkin, but when I raised my brow at him, he merely pointed at the melted ice cream that was currently coating my hand.

"It isn't like you to be spacing out like that," he commented while I wiped the sticky mess off my hand.

"Yeah," I mumbled, tossing the used napkin the trash can near me.

He didn't seem to enjoy my unusual melancholy attitude, so he attempted to lighten the mood.

"Could it be that you've just experienced what they all 'love at first sight'?"

It was easy to tell that he was worried about me. I faked a haughty expression and looked at him.

"I don't fall in love Souma, remember that," I said with much less zeal than I had intended to put out, but he seemed to have bought my charade.

Not wanting to bother him any longer than I already had, I got up and wandered towards the large fountain that was the major centerpiece of the plaza. I stood amongst the other tourists and locals and gazed blankly at the magnificent water display.

Why had I suddenly remembered that? It had been a long time since I had specifically relived a memory like that. I racked my mind from possible reasons, but I only came to the fact that it might've happened because the devil had shown me Libra in the sky and then talked about his college course in astronomy. But even that was a horrible reason in itself.

Sighing, I licked the corner of my ice cream so it wouldn't drip onto my fingers like last time. I would probably have to pull an all-nighter and read or something just to forget.

I was once again snapped out of my thoughts when someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around to see a mass of azure hair and a pair of dark eyes staring into mine.

"What is it?" I asked wearily, turning around so I wouldn't have to see him.

It was easier to mask emotion when you didn't have to look at someone directly.

He stuffed his hands into his front pocket and stood beside me.

"You're not going to call me 'devil' and talk about my perverted ways and how I annoy the living shit out of you?"

Was he bitter? I wasn't too sure.

"No."

There was a silent pause, and I couldn't tell if he had left or not. I refused to check though, in case he hadn't left and really was standing there.

"Why not?"

I gave in to a brief laugh, before stopping it immediately.

"You're strange. Do you really want me to call you names and act like a whiny brat?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw him staring at me with wide eyes. But I could see it clearly; it was the same face Kukai had – he was worried. What was wrong with me? Why was I bringing all of this up to the surface where it didn't belong? No one would understand. I was just being a bother.

I turned and looked up at him – a tight smile on my face.

"Stop looking at me like that you perverted devil," I muttered.

When he continued to look at me, I faked an exasperated sigh and left. Unconsciously, as I was walking, I looked down to see that the ice cream had completely melted off my cone and was once again coating my hand. Sighing, I threw the remains away and wiped off the mess like last time.

x

As the day passed, I was able to push the memory further and further to the back of my mind. It wasn't that big of a deal to begin with; yet with each time a sliver of my thoughts would escape the tight bounds I had contained them with, I somehow ended up making an ordeal out of it.

Pushing the hair out of my face, I shifted my position on the couch and rested my head on the leather arms.

Idly watching the hands on the clock tick by, I remembered the conversation with my short-tempered landlady. I was in no way related to her and I had known her a little more than a year yet –

She had called.

And what of the woman I had known my entire life?

Nothing.

She was a cold woman…my mother.

**Ikuto POV**

Something was wrong, though I didn't exactly know what it was. Teasing Amu was entertaining, and seeing the annoyed spark in her eyes was amusing nonetheless. Earlier today however, I hadn't seen the spark. It was as if the light in her eyes had died out.

Sighing, I looked up to see Utau and Kukai looking at me expectantly.

"I can't believe Amu didn't want to come," began Kukai taking a large gulp of his drink.

"She's just in a bad mood; it'll be gone by tomorrow."

Kukai nodded his head, letting go of the subject. But I wasn't going to let go that fast; not until I learned what was wrong with her. Strange…I didn't even know why I cared so much.

"Why is she in bad mood?"

"You know," she began with a casual shrug of her shoulders. "Some stuff happens and it ruins your mood…that's all. Kukai, is our food here yet?"

"Not yet."

Smirking, I leaned forward so I was at least a few inches away from her.

"Don't be evasive Utau. What kind of stuff?"

She huffed out an annoyed breath.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about it. And you won't ask her about it either Ikuto, do you hear me? I'm not going to sit here and let you make her recall things she'd rather forget."

Before I could even respond, the waitress came by our table and placed our orders in front of us. The conversation was dropped and forgotten as we dug into our foods.

**Amu POV**

The sun had already set and from the balcony door I could see the nighttime sky. Sighing inwardly, I pushed the door open and leaned against the railing. I looked up at the sky and smiled; the 'box' was just faintly visible to the naked eye. It was strangely relaxing looking at Libra through the sky; it almost felt like I was seeing myself, without a care in the world, in the sky.

Just as I was beginning to get lost in my thoughts, a knock came at the door.

"It's open," I called not moving from my spot.

Once I heard the door shut, I turned around to see the devil standing in front of the door – a hand in his pocket and another hand holding a white box.

"What's that?" I asked walking away from the balcony.

"Dessert. You didn't come to the restaurant tonight, so we brought you back some stuff."

"Oh, thank you."

I grabbed the box from him, deliberately making sure that our fingers didn't touch, and placed it on the table.

"Sit down; I'll get some plates and stuff."

"I was actually just going to drop these off. I thought that they'd cheer you up."

I didn't say a word while I watched him turn around and leave my room. Walking over to the table, I opened the box to see a small chocolate cake decorated with strawberries; on it was a small marzipan doll with pink hair holding a banner that said 'smile' in bright red pink letters.

How could someone, who I'd treated so badly, want to cheer me up?

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hello everyone c:

I'm so sorry for the late update; I had a severe case of writer's block for this chapter for the longest time and even now that I finally managed to finish it, I'm not satisfied with how it turned out. No promises made, but I'm going to try my very hardest to squeeze another chapter out by tomorrow *fingers crossed*.

**And now for my Lovely & Patient Reviewers:**

**Sam2413**

**sanjana tsukiyomi black**

**animefreak96ful **(reviewed 2 times)

**XxChopSueyxX**

**Nu-tella-Chi**

**Guest **(reviewed ch.5)

**XeMi-ChIx**

**Animefreaksrock96 **(reviewed 2 times)

**NellyLuna252**

**101 PrettyKitty**

**yamiduke13**

**crazyrawrx3**

_Read~Love~Review_

_Neko-Meme_


	7. Time to Hunt

_Chapter Six – Time to Hunt_

* * *

The marzipan was sitting on the desk staring at me when I woke up. I stared at it with fatigue filled eyes; it didn't even look like me I mused as I pulled myself out of bed lazily and trudged towards the desk picking up the figure gently. The only similar feature between us was the color of our pink hair. And even that was a couple shades off.

The marzipan figure stared at me intently with its beady black eyes. I blew a few pieces of stray hair out of my face and sighed. I was probably going to have to pay him back for this I thought with a hint of frustration.

x

After brushing myself up a bit, I found myself in front of Utau and Kukai's room. I raised my hand to the door but quickly brought it back down to my side.

Stop being such a coward and knock on the damn door, I thought to myself irritably.

I quickly knocked on the door and bit my lip nervously. Why was I even nervous in the first place? It was just Utau and Kukai. The door flung open, removing me from my thoughts, revealing a toothy, completely childlike grin.

"What's up Amu?

"Uh good morning…is Utau there?"

"Nope, she went out with Ikuto just a while ago, but why don't you come in."

"Okay."

He held the door open and motioned me to come in.

I took a seat on the nearest possible couch the door and he took the one adjacent from me.

"Is something wrong?" he asked after a beat of silence.

I shook my head rather unconvincingly.

"No…uh-

"I know I'm not Utau, but if it'll make you more comfortable I could put on one of her dresses and possibly find a blonde wig."

My lips parted to form a smile.

"Ah you've finally smiled! I was starting to get worried; you've been dejected since yesterday. Speaking of which, did Ikuto bring you the cake?"

I bit my lip as I nodded my head. Here came the nerves.

I didn't even understand what was compelling me to do this.

"That's kind of why I'm here."

"About the cake? It was the flavor wasn't it? I told him to go with the safe stuff-

"What does he like?" I interjected.

"What does he like?" repeated Kukai. "Are you talking about Ikuto?"

I nodded my head.

"Are you two dating?" he smirked.

"No!" I choked out. "It's…a thank you gift."

"Yeah, I figured. Just thought I'd tease you a little.

"Well since we're talking about Ikuto, this is going to prove to be difficult. Gift wise, I doubt he dislikes anything."

"Great…"

"I know you guys have spent some time together while Utau and I have been doing stuff. Did he seem interested in anything then?"

I shook my head again.

"It's not like we're friends or anything," I muttered. "How would I know what he'd like?"

Kukai suddenly leapt from the couch and grabbed my wrist pulling me up from my seat.

"W-what are you doing?" I exclaimed as he led me out of his room in a mad dash.

"Utau called me a while ago and said she was going to be in one of the local shopping outlets. We'll spy on him from there and maybe you can get an idea."

"It's just a stupid gift!" I exclaimed once more, digging my heels into to the ground to get him to stop running.

To my relief he pulled to a halt, allowing my legs some time to rest.

"If it was just a stupid gift then you wouldn't have come to me for advice."

"I needed to hear a second opinion. How would I know what that perverted devil likes?"

"Plus you would've had already left if you didn't care," he added with a knowing smirk.

"You held on to my hand as tightly as you could and ran as if your life depended on it," I mumbled sourly.

"Do you want my help?"

"Y-yeah, but-

"No buts; let's go."

x

This was so wrong.

Yet here I was following this devil.

Letting out a miserable breath, I turned around to face Kukai who seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Kukai, I don't want to-

Instead of replying, he grabbed my hand and pulled me and began running.

"Ah, hurry up! We're losing track of them!"

I turned my head to see the devil and Utau entering one of the local stores in the plaza. The two of us followed behind them with enough distance so we weren't deemed as suspicious. Once inside the store, Kukai left me for a moment by the front door and returned as soon as he had left with a hat in his hand.

"Put this on."

"A hat? It's summer."

"Your hair stands out too easily."

I caught a glimpse of my hair in the window reflection and with a sigh stuffed my pink locks in the confinement of the furry hat.

"That's better. Okay, this is your chance to follow him around and see what his interests are."

"What about you?"

"I'll watch from afar and see what Utau is up to."

Nodding my head, I ran off to where I had last seen the devil disappear to.

"Just in case," I murmured to myself as I grabbed one of the sunglasses off the rack and placed it on the bridge of my nose.

I spied on him from the aisle right behind where he was standing. Luckily the shelves were relatively short and I could see him. Unfortunately for me however, I was too short to actually see what he was doing and so I was only able to see his head and catch a few meager glimpses on his actions.

He seemed to only walk around, picking up things only to show Utau. Sighing, I followed him into the next aisle as secretly as I could; mentally taking note of the fact that this was no longer the 'elegant' chinaware Utau was interested in.

When he made a grab for a strawberry shaped mug, my breath suddenly hitched. Is that what he wanted?

He examined the mug a little further before chuckling as if the mug had whispered to him a clever joke.

With an arched brow, I elevated myself on my toes and leaned forward. Why was he laughing?

Shaking his head, he put it away and strode over towards Utau who was holding a rather large bag in her hand.

"The owner made some other store suggestions that we could check out."

"Let's go then."

"You're not tired yet?"

"Not particularly. I seem to find interesting things as I browse," he replied sparing a glance at the aisle he had just occupied.

Nodding her head, the two of them left the store.

x

"Did you find out anything?" asked Kukai leaning against the wall, his gaze directed at a group of hungry pigeons.

I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"It's okay Amu, you still have time to find out."

"I guess," I muttered not caring to add that we'd been at this for over three hours.

"They're going to another store. Let's go."

I glanced at the store and shook my head.

"I'd rather not…at least not this one."

"Ah…okay. I'll be inside watching over Utau then. If anything happens, just yell and I'll come running out."

My lips parted to form a small smile.

"Okay."

When he disappeared, I released a large sigh and readjusted my position on the ledge of the fountain in the center of the plaza.

I didn't have to do this. I could just leave then call Kukai that I was just feeling sick.

"That's so stupid though!" I groaned causing several onlookers to hurry past me.

My cheeks tinted bright pink with embarrassment; I kept my head down – my bangs almost covering my face.

"Pane signora?"

Looking up, I saw a middle aged man pushing a cart of bread.

"Ah…sí."

The man smiled, creases forming by the side of his eyes. As he busied himself with wrapping my bread, I racked my mind for the Italian phrases I had learned when I was accidentally given a semester of Italian a year ago. I never thought it would be remotely useful until now.

"Um…Quanto…costa?" I asked holding up my bag just in case I had butchered the word.

"Quattro euros."

I quickly fished through my bag for the amounted coins and handed it to him.

"Grazie," I said when he handed me the warm loaf of bread.

"La vostra accoglienza."

I looked down at the loaf of bread in my hands and sighed. Why did I buy this?

A lone pigeon wandered towards me and waited in front of my feet; its beady eyes staring patiently at the bread. I pulled out a small chunk of the bread and tossed it to the floor. The pigeon picked it up eagerly with its beak and flew away.

Seeing this exchange, a few more birds wandered towards me and waited patiently just as the other pigeon had. Once more, I tore out several more chunks and tossed it to the floor where it was quickly picked up. After this, all the birds that were scattered around the small plaza, flew towards me and waited at my feet patiently.

"Okay, I get it," I said laughing when a few began to coo.

As I was tearing out the chunks of bread, from the corner of my eye, I saw the devil leave the store he and Utau had been shopping in alone. Panicking, I threw the bread down and ran to hide behind the vendor who was a few feet away from where he had sold me the bread. My sudden reaction caused more than half the pigeons to take off in terror attracting the attention of almost everyone in the plaza, as well as the cursed devil.

He merely grinned and entered the store on the opposite side of the shop he had been in.

I quickly followed in pursuit and entered the store only to be surrounded with hundreds of violins. I stared around in awe. Rows of violins hung on the wall; the sunlight reflecting from the window to illuminate the entire store. My mind instantly reeled back to the garden in front of the apartments; as though a spell had been cast which only allowed you to walk forward.

I followed the devil's head throughout the store inconspicuously as best I could. He walked up to what seemed to be the owner, and two began to talk animatedly. Curious, I leaned forward only to lose my balance and cause my demise. The stands fell down in a domino effect causing every head in the store to turn and stare at me. Eyes wide, I stood frozen in my place as the devil and the owner approached me.

"Signora, are you okay?" asked the owner peering at me through spectacled eyes.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. "I'll pay for any of the damages I caused!"

"No, no" he chuckled. "Don't worry about those. Instead let's focus on the cut on your arm."

Looking down, I saw a small cut with bubbles of blood forming at the top. The owner disappeared to the back, leaving me and the devil alone. Hands jammed into his pocket, he focused his azure eyes on me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ah…I-I had an optional assignment for my history class…it was to discuss the culture of any country. Being in Florence, I decided I might as well start."

A smirk tugged at his lips.

"There are many stores that are closer to the apartments. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume you were following me."

Scoffing, I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Your ego is impressive."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Anyways, did you come here alone? You were by yourself at the fountain feeding a bunch of pigeons when I saw you earlier."

"Kukai wanted to watch over Utau, so I tagged along."

Luckily, I was saved from another round of conversations when the owner came back to us with a band aid in hand.

"That long for a single band aid," joked the devil.

His friend flushed.

"It's hectic back there. Anyways, here you are."

"Ah…thank you. Out of curiosity, do you two by any chance know each other?"

The two of them began chuckling.

"Amu, this is my very close friend, Asoka. He, Kukai, and I have been buds since middle school."

"Pleased to meet you," I said holding out my hand.

"Likewise. By the way, Amu, have you heard Ikuto play the violin before?"

"No."

"You must. His playing is very magical as though he is creating an alluring spell."

"I'm really not that-

"Don't be modest. Here, let me get that model you were so curious in and you can play us something."

"I didn't know you played," I mumbled when Asoka disappeared.

"Believe it or not, it's a great stress reliever for me."

Asoka returned with a fragile appearing violin in his hands.

In a fluid motion that seemed all too elegant, the devil took the instrument, placed it under his chin, and played the strings.

I found three magical things in this ancient city: the garden outside the apartments; this tiny violin shop; and the devil playing the violin.

x

**Ikuto POV**

The violin hit my side with every step I took.

With every hit, Amu's face flashed into my mind. Her wide golden eyes, her relaxed facial expression. I shook my head, causing the image to disappear. Sighing, I fished my pocket for the keys as I approached my door.

However, before I could open it, a little silver box caught my attention. Picking it up, I pulled off the top to see a note. Frowning only slightly, I opened it to see Amu's name printed in elegant handwriting at the bottom.

_This is my thank you present for the cake you gave me the other night. I wasn't too pleased to have to find you a gift, so don't go doing anything like that again. What you do with the gift at this point is in your hands; I've done my duty._

_-Amu_

_P.S. You should stick to playing the violin. I am reluctant to say this, because I'm not too fond of you, but your playing is very magical. _

_P.S.S I didn't know what to get you…and this 'thing' kind of looked like you._

_P.S.S.S. Don't get too cocky. I still don't like you._

Grinning, I pulled out the card to see a small keychain of a cat with dark blue hair playing a star patterned violin.

"Silly girl," I mumbled entering my room.

* * *

**A/N**

Hello my lovely lovelies (:

Before you all chuck tomatoes at me, let me explain my ordain e.e

Basically, I have had severe computer problems. When I bought my laptop, I thought it would've made my life easier…quite the opposite actually. I wrote up two chapters for this story, only to have my computer catch a virus and have everything virtually erased. -.- So I retyped one chapter and saved an extra copy on my USB. My computer then got something called an FBI virus…which once more deleted everything. Good thing I had a backup , right? T^T WRONG… my aunt's dog destroyed it…

So here it is finally…one chapter for Amore Destinato.

**Thank you to my patient readers/reviewers:**

**xXDrEaMsXCoMeXTrUeXx**

**101 PrettyKitty**

**Kanxkawaii**

**RabbitandHorseLover13**

**Yamiduke13**

**XeMi-ChIx**

**Kisshu-ichigo**

**Animefreaksrock96**

**Olivia the rat**

**Suz2u0109**

I'll try my hardest to update before Thanksgiving break is done, but I've come down with a flu T^T I'll try my hardest though!

Till then,

Neko-Meme


	8. Icing

_Chapter Seven – Icing _

* * *

"Utau," he moaned rolling over. "Why are you getting out of bed?"

I grinned at his child-like behavior.

"It's of decent hour to be out of bed."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest – the slow thumping of his heart playing a rhythm in my ears. Leaning over, I pressed a kiss to his lips and wriggled out of his grasp. As I walked over towards the window, he pushed himself up on his elbows and focused his emerald eyes on me.

"Would you like to go out today?"

I didn't answer; instead my attention was entirely focused on the scene the window displayed. I heard him relieve a sigh and roll out of bed; his footsteps becoming incrementally louder as he approached me until they stopped and I felt his arms snake around my waist once more.

I continued to watch Amu and Ikuto bicker out in the courtyard.

"Your motherly instincts are on again," he chuckled.

"I can't help it. I'm all she has right now, and once that woman finds out, she'll-

"She won't do a single thing, because we won't let her do anything remotely hazardous to Amu."

He placed a kiss on my head and smiled in my hair.

"How about we go out – just the two of us?"

Giving the arguing duo one last glance, I let the curtain fall.

"That'd be wonderful."

**Amu POV**

"Your brain has the capacity of an ostrich!" I shouted giving the devil in front of me the most severe glare I could muster.

"An ostrich? Really?" he countered trying to hold back a smile.

"Stop grinning! I'm insulting your intelligence, you should be angry!"

He shrugged and took a seat on one of the stone benches.

"Probably, though I hardly feel insulted."

"You make me so angry," I muttered.

"That's good because you're cute when you're angry."

Releasing a frustrated groan, I made a grab for the object that had begun this whole dispute.

"Can I just have my book back?"

"That all depends on your answer."

My brows knitted together.

"Let's go out to town for some fun."

I watched him lower the book to hip level, and then refocused my gaze on him.

"Not interested," I shrugged.

"No book then," he replied mimicking my gesture.

"Fine, you're wasting my time anyway."

His arm was fully extended now.

"You're giving up?"

"Completely."

Rolling my eyes I walked past him, snatched the book, and ran halfway across the courtyard.

"Hey!"

I spun around and while still trying to catch my breath, stuck my tongue out at him, and walked back into the complex.

As I was heading upstairs, I crossed paths with Utau and Kukai who were laughing amongst each other.

"Oh, good morning Amu," smiled Utau, her face completely serene.

My heart warmed at the sight of their smiling faces.

"Good morning. Are you two going out?"

"Yeah," answered Kukai. "I figured that we would go on a date."

"That's sweet. Well, I won't keep you two waiting; have fun."

"You too."

When I reached my apartment door, I fished through my pockets for the key and inserted it into the key hole. Closing the door behind me, I took a seat and set out to typing up my English report.

x

I stretched back in my chair and released a yawn while my stomach simultaneously let out a growl. The time on the computer read 2:47 p.m. It was definitely lunchtime. Saving my document, I pushed myself away from the desk and left my room. As I passed by the courtyard, I didn't fail to notice the dark azure hair that was spread out on the edge of the stone bench. When my stomach voiced its complaints once more, I shook my head and continued walking.

The devil was truly an odd person. Who in the world could be comfortable enough to fall asleep on those benches? My mind quickly reeled back to my first night here when I had fallen asleep on the bench after reading Romeo and Juliet. I quickly shook my head relieving the memory and entered the dining hall.

I decided on getting some chicken nuggets with fries and a bottle of water. Then upon a whim grabbed a large slice of cheesecake and made my way back to my apartment not interested in eating my food in the empty hall.

Just as I took a seat at my desk, my phone vibrated signaling that I had received a message. For a moment I debated on whether I should look at it or not, assuming that it would be a bothersome text from Todd. But just like with the cheesecake, on a whim, I pulled out my phone and was surprisingly met with a baby blue screen.

_Daily Libra Horoscope_

_Tuesday June 13_

_Keeping your positive energy up is a high must for you for a grave predicament is heading your way._

"What?" I mumbled to myself.

I was on the verge of deleting this app for I was convinced that it was broken. How was it possible to get the same horoscope for three days straight? Sighing, I turned off my phone and focused my attention on my lunch.

I probably would've much rather enjoyed getting a bothersome text from Todd.

**The Next Day**

"So what's the plan for today?" asked the devil resting his head on his hand.

"Well, last night I managed to come across a site that was advertising a small wedding bakery local to Verona. I emailed the head baker there and asked if it was possible for the four of us to come down there and test some cakes for the engagement party," answered Utau scribbling something down in her notebook.

"I don't know about you guys," spoke up Kukai with a twinkle in his eyes. "But I am so excited to be stuffing my face with all the cake samples."

"Because you're a glutton," retorted the devil with a snort.

"That…is true," agreed the brunette.

Utau giggled and shifted her attention on to me, her brows suddenly knitting together.

"Amu? Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes worried.

"I'm just a bit tired; I spent most of last night finishing up my essay."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in and catch up on some sleep?"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed feeling guilt set in. "I wouldn't miss any of this for the world. Besides, I would love to stuff my face with all the cake I could possibly eat."

Her lips parted to form a smile; nodding her head, she turned her attention to Kukai and the two of them began to talk animatedly.

I felt a pang of guilt stab through my heart. Though I hadn't completely lied, the reason for my lack of attention was not due to my lack of sleep. I couldn't understand why I had gotten the same horoscope again this morning. And it was a combination of not knowing and this being a first time occurrence that worried me.

I felt a flick at my forehead which snapped me out of my deep concentration. Looking up, I was met by those mysterious pools of azure.

"You're going to get wrinkles, and then you'll be unattractive."

"I don't care."

"You were lying to Utau," he whispered in a hushed tone.

Eyes wide, I was unable to say a word.

"You were wondering how right? When you're upset, you're practically an open book."

I pushed myself away from the table.

"I am not having this conversation with you," I whispered back.

Dark eyes penetrated mine.

"Then don't."

I stared at him for what felt like the longest time before I finally walked away.

Yes, the devil was truly an odd person.

x

"My parents originally were from the city of Florence; I grew up on a small farm with six other siblings. It was very crazy," spoke the head chef in an accent heavy voice, creases forming at the sides of his eyes. "When I was 14, I moved to the city of New York to study in the art of cooking. I admit I was no good. I decided that I would try baking. It was hard, I had to-

"I just wanted to eat cake," whined Kukai in a hushed tone so only I could hear.

I hit his arm playfully.

"Don't be rude."

"I'm not trying to be. I just wanted to eat cake."

"You will…eventually."

"– And so here we are," announced the chef suddenly leading us into a grand kitchen area. "I closed the shop for today, so feel free to take as long as you'd like. I'll be in the other kitchen working on a few deadline cakes, but if you need me just call. Divertire!"

I stepped forward in awe. The counters were lined with different creams, fillings, and frostings that sparkled as the sunlight grazed over them with its beams. Plain cakes decorated the table that had been placed at the side of the room. And right in the middle, were miniature wedding cakes, fully assembled and sparkling.

It then struck me. Walking in, I had noticed no other people but himself and us. He had done this all by himself.

My entrancement was quickly shattered by Kukai's boisterous exclamation.

"It's finally time for cake!"

x

"I think I'm going to have him make our engagement cake and maybe even our wedding cake. What do you think Kukai?"

He looked at his future wife's serene expression and smiled.

"I don't think that would be bad idea."

"Well, the two of us should go talk to him then. Amu, Ikuto, Kukai and I are going to discuss cake ideas with the chef. We'll we back in a little bit."

"Have fun," I called out as they left the kitchen.

Sighing, I rested my head on my hand.

'_Keeping your positive energy up is a high must for you for a grave predicament is heading your way.'_

It irked me immensely. The message had been displayed on my screen for four days. I honestly just wished I could've claimed it to be broken, but it wasn't, because the day that was displayed at the top of the screen changed with each passing day with only the ominous message repeating.

Once again, I was snapped out of my thought when I felt something wet hit my face. Looking up, I saw the stupid devil holding a bowl of cream with a cheeky grin on his face. Locking eye contact, I raised my hand to the wet substance on my cheek and brought it to my attention.

"You threw strawberry icing at me?" I questioned feeling the frustration surge through my body.

"Oh don't act so high and mighty and talk with an authoritative voice. We all know that you won't do anything," he egged on.

I raised a brow.

"Oh really?"

"Positive."

Getting up, I walked over to the counter and grabbed a bowl that just happened to be my favorite flavor – chocolate. Grabbing a small handful of the icing, I chucked it at him hoping it would hit him square in the face. Obviously enough, today did not seem to be my day because he ducked and the icing smeared all over the floor.

A smug smirk tugged at his face.

"Was that honestly the best you could-

My grin grew wider and soon I was giggling. I hadn't tried to aim this time, but the icing ended up in his hair and slivered down the side of his face, bubbling around his chin giving him the appearance of a faux beard.

"You think that's funny?"

I nodded trying to ease the pleasure of my attack.

Tossing his spoon aside, he grabbed a handful of the pink frosting and chucked it at me forever staining my favorite white tee.

My mouth dropped open, the smile on my face vanishing immediately.

"You ignorant savage!" I exclaimed taking a step forward. "This was my favorite shirt!"

Shrugging, he snatched a different bowl and threw the purple icing with such precision that it ended up on my face.

I wiped the icing off and glared at him while simultaneously grabbing a handful of green icing that was sitting innocently on the counter beside me.

And thus the icing war began.

x

**Utau POV**

"He is such a nice person and his baking is to die for. I think I might just fall in love," I gushed clutching my notebook closer to my chest.

Kukai cleared his throat.

"I could bake a cake a hundred times more delicious than his."

Grinning, I planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"And I would eat every single bit of it."

As Kukai and I approached the kitchen where Amu and Ikuto were residing, I heard the two of them shouting.

"Really? We left for not even twenty minutes and they're already at each others throats."

"I hear laughing now."

Frowning, I focused on the sounds from the kitchen and heard Ikuto's laughter resonate within the halls. Following his laughter were some insults thrown in by the courtesy of Amu and then silence.

We stood there, unsure on whether to run up to the kitchen and see if all was well or to remain hidden in the halls. After a half a beat of silence, I grabbed Kukai's hand and ran towards the kitchen area. Just as we reached the doorway, the silence was shattered by a soft escape of laughter.

I couldn't understand what surprised me more: the fact that Amu had participated in an icing war (something which was totally against her style) or the fact that she was actually laughing sincerely from the bottom of her heart (something that had not happened since our arrival in Verona).

I nudged Kukai.

"What's wrong Utau?"

"Nothing," I answered a smile playing at my lips. "Let's leave them by themselves for a while."

"Are you sure that a wise idea?" he asked with an arched brow.

"Yes."

x

**Amu POV**

I combed my fingers through my hair only to have them get stuck midway. Sighing, I got up from my comfortable position on the couch and moved over to the sink where I got the blue icing out of my hair.

Stupid perverted devil! He's the one who started that dumb icing war. I threw a miserable glance at my white tee – it was one of the casualties from that dreaded war. Leaning against the counter, I began combing my fingers through my hair again only to have it get stuck midway. I released a frustrated groan; I was going to need a bath. Just as I was making my way to the bathroom, the phone rang alarming me only slightly. I hardly ever got phone calls, especially when it was nearing nine o' clock at night. I grabbed the phone and sucked in a deep breath.

"Hello?"

"Hinamori Amu?"

"Yes?"

"You have a phone call waiting for you in the lobby. Would you like me to direct the call to your room or do you prefer answering it here?"

"Uh, I'll just come downstairs."

"Okay, your call will be on hold."

Placing the phone back down on the receiver, I quickly pulled on a light jacket and rushed downstairs; my mind racing around to figure who the caller would be.

The woman at the front counter smiled at me when I arrived at the main floor panting.

"Your phone call is on line 3."

"Thank…you."

Sucking in a deep breath to calm my excited nerves, I brought the phone to my ear.

"Hello."

No answer.

Had they hung up?

"Hello?"

I was immediately greeted with a cold laugh.

My eyes widened and my heart nearly stopped.

It wasn't possible…

"I bet I was the last person you were expecting, _Amu_."

* * *

**A/N**

Hello my lovelies!

I'm finally back from vacation as some of you know because you all kept PMing me (; Anyways, for the past week, I was at New Jersey because my cousin was getting married. I honestly would like to call this my first wedding because the other one I went to, I was hardly 3. But it was truthfully very beautiful and when they had their first dance, it was like I was watching a fairytale unfold. Oh! And I was a bridesmaid which was really exciting. The lady who did my make up though didn't understand that I was only 15, and so I looked like I was a college kid…which led to some strange guys trying to flirt with me…but overall it was a super fun night.

Anyways, I'm guessing I haven't updated in a while? Probably so because that's just how I've been rolling for the past year (; so to make up for that *insert drum roll* I wrote my longest chapter yet for this story ^. ^

**My Gratitude for my Lovely Reviewers**

**Aurora lovie**

**yamiduke13**

**magicalbelievers**

**marissa-chihero67**

**XeMi-ChIx**

**suz2u0109**

**RabbitandHorseLover13**

**Hinata2413**

**kisshu-ichigo**

**aznpride16xx**

**Trina**

**xXDrEaMsXCoMeXTrUeXx**

**101 PrettyKitty**

**kanxkawaii**

_Read~Love~Review_

_Neko-Meme_


End file.
